Weymouth weighs leash law for cats

Cat owners would be required to keep their pets leashed or otherwise under their control if they go off their property and to clean up after them outdoors under a propsal before the Weymouth Town Council..

WEYMOUTH – Herding cats may be the epitome of futility, but the town council is weighing a proposal that would try to at least stop them from roaming free.

Commercial Street resident Lorraine Nicotera proposed the revision to the town ordinance covering cats and dogs that would require cat owners to keep their pets leashed or otherwise under their control if they go off their property and to clean up after their cats outdoors.

Owners violating the proposed rules could be fined and cats causing a nuisance on someone else’s property could be impounded by police or the animal control officer.

The council on Monday referred the proposal to its ordinance committee, which is scheduled to discuss it next Monday.

Nicotera, a registered wildlife rehabilitator who cares for injured rabbits, said cats allowed outside on their own frequently kill wildlife and have created a nuisance by using neighbors’ yards as a litter box.

“Cats are toxic to wildlife. ... It’s a cancer in our state,” she said. “I open my window and I get the lovely smell of cat (urine), and I’m tired of it.”

Nicotera said her proposal would bring cats under the same rules that have been in place for dogs for decades and would eventually cut down on the feral cat population.

Fines for violating the cat and dog ordinance range from $50 for a first offense to $100 for third and subsequent offenses.

But Mike Parker, the town’s animal control officer, said the proposed ordinance change could be difficult to enforce. Many cat owners don’t put collars on their pets for fear they could get hung up on a fence or tree, so figuring out whether a cat is a stray or belongs to a neighbor could be impossible.

Then, if the town does take a cat into custody, there are no state regulations for how long it would have to hold the cat so the owner, if there is one, has a chance to claim it, Parker said. And if a cat gets sick while in the town’s care, that could put the town on the hook for vet bills.

“In reality, I just don’t think it would really do anything,” Parker said. “I’ve never had an issue of a cat that we know has a known owner that’s really causing a nuisance. How much of a nuisance can a cat cause on your property?”

Councilor Kenneth DiFazio, who heads the ordinance committee, said in his 14 years as a town councilor he’s never had a complaint from a constituent about cats. But he said he’ll wait to hear from Nicotera and Parker before deciding how to vote.

Page 2 of 2 - “I’ll keep an open mind,” he said.

Christian Schiavone may be reached at cschiavone@ledger.com or follow him on Twitter @CSchiavo_Ledger.